Jesuina Gets the Last Word

Research Journal #4, Entry #7

The final clues came from Jesuina's obituary. She was listed as Jessuina [sic] Gomes Fitkal. Because I wasn't looking for Gomes, I must have overlooked this entry. She died 23 Jun 1957 in Oakland. She had a daughter Mrs. Allen [sic] Correia, grandchildren Barbara and Frank Correia Jr., and two sisters Rose Vierra and Mrs. Frank Pacheco.

The obituary killed two birds with one stone (no pun intended). This Jesuina was the adoptive mother of Helen Pacheco. She was also the sister of Rose (Caires) Vierra and Alexandria (de Caires) Pacheco. Jesuina could now be attached to the de Caires family and rightfully placed as the person who raised Helen.

It can be challenging to search for females when you know their surname. It's next to impossible when no surname is known. It is fortunate that Helen's adoptive mother was named Jesuina rather than Maria. In this case, research proved that Helen was the daughter of Joao Pacheco & Joana Gonsalves Cardozo. It also showed that her adoptive mother, Jesuina (de Caires) Fitkal. And, two marriages for Jesuina were revealed in the process.

By relying on instincts and the memories of cousins, we got from point A to point B. However, real research was necessary to verify all the guessing and to make sure Helen wasn't mistakenly linked to the wrong people. In the end, parts of the stories were true and we filled in many of the blanks.

Thank You, 1930 Census!

[Research Journal #4, Entry #6]

The 1930 census was finally made available. I expected to learn something about Helen and Frank since they were married 3 years earlier. I had given up on finding Jesuina. If she wasn't in the census records between 1910 and 1930, my guess was she died at a young age.

You never know when the genealogy gods will send a break your way. My break came with the 1930 census. Helen and Frank were living on E. 15th Ave in Oakland in 1930. And, who was living with them? Jesuina! Not Jesuina Fitkal or de Caires, but Jessie Gomes, mother in law, age 49, married at age 17.

This was the tidbit I was searching for! Jesuina had been married at the age of 17 to a Gomes. The census didn't report whether she was widowed or divorced. Somehow this 1st marriage had escaped everyone's notice. But, Jesuina existed! Hooray!

I went back to the 1900 census with my new information. I didn't find anything conclusive. I did find a Manuel and Jesuina Gomes living in Waimea. They were of the right age and Jesuina was from Madeira. This might be them, though there wasn't enough information to really tie this couple in with Helen.

With the 1930 census, we found out that Jesuina lived with her daughter. She was married once at age 17. Somewhere along the line she was widowed or divorce. It wasn't until after 1930 that she married her second husband, Peter Fitkal.